Just as Ning Chuan was wiping out the bandits of Second Dragon Mountain, cleaning up the battlefield, and seeing his strength soar.
In Qingshan County, at the Imperial Guard office.
Leng Hanshuang wore a stern expression, her eyes sharp as lightning as she reviewed case files.
Case files were piled like mountains before her, while Xiao Lian listlessly kept her company at the side.
"Miss, you've been reading for a whole day and night. Dawn is almost here—how much longer are you going to keep reading?" Xiao Lian asked with a yawn.
Hearing Xiao Lian's words, Leng Hanshuang slowly closed the file. The severity on her face gradually faded, revealing a trace of gentleness as she said softly:
"The officials and bandits of Qingshan County are in collusion, leaving the people unable to live in peace. Every clue points toward the Han Family, yet we cannot find the crucial evidence?"
Xiao Lian stepped forward, gently shaking Leng Hanshuang's arm as she said in a coquettish voice:
"Miss, the Han Family is known as the 'Three Dukes and Eight Orders, Martial Saint family.' Even if we found evidence, we still couldn't bring them down. Miss shouldn't have come to this godforsaken place to suffer. Let's go back, all right? Please, please?"
Leng Hanshuang indulgently pinched Xiao Lian's nose.
"You, you can't even endure this little hardship. You must know that under the skies of Great Ming, who knew how many common people went without clothes to cover themselves or food to fill their stomachs? We who receive the sovereign's salary must be loyal to the sovereign's cause..."
"All right, all right, Miss, Xiao Lian knows she was wrong! You're doing this again!"
Before Leng Hanshuang could finish, Xiao Lian hurriedly shook her arm, begging for mercy again and again.
The moment she heard Miss start preaching those grand principles, her head swelled as large as a bucket.
Seeing Xiao Lian like this, Leng Hanshuang helplessly shook her head and changed the subject, asking:
"Have you investigated Ning Chuan's background thoroughly?"
"It's all been investigated. I wanted to give it to Miss last night, but Miss was so busy that you ignored me."
"Look, this Ning Chuan's information is strange in every way!"
As Xiao Lian spoke, she took out a file and handed it over.
Leng Hanshuang accepted the file and opened it. Written inside were the words:
"Ning Chuan, sixteen years old, from Ning Family Village in Qingshi Town. No father or mother, no master or inheritance. Frail and sickly since childhood; had never left Ning Family Village before the age of sixteen."
Leng Hanshuang's brows furrowed slightly as she asked:
"He could smash Three Tiger Mountain's Second Boss to death with his head. He has clearly cultivated a body-tempering art. And this is called having no master or inheritance? This is called frail and sickly?"
"That was what every Ning Family Village resident we found said!"
After pondering briefly, Leng Hanshuang took out a blank file and changed "frail and sickly since childhood" to "born with divine strength."
She then handed it to Xiao Lian, lit the old file with the candle flame, and continued:
"We are weak and isolated, with no trustworthy subordinates. Everything we do is hindered at every turn."
"Now is precisely the time when we need people. I see some integrity in this person. If properly nurtured, he may become a good source of support. Has he arrived yet?"
Xiao Lian giggled. "He has, he has! I knew Miss had eyes like blazing torches and judged people so accurately!" As she spoke, she handed over a small bamboo tube.
Leng Hanshuang took the bamboo tube, drew out a slip of paper, and unfolded it. It read:
"Ning Chuan passed through Hanshan Town. Enraged, he declared that a true man would not keep company with bandits. He forcefully rejected Straw Bag Strategist's recruitment and angrily killed Green Wolf and Black Tiger!"
Leng Hanshuang froze, then a hint of a smile gradually spread across her cold, clear face.
The next day, the caravan set out once more.
Shopkeeper Li had the armor and weapons tied up and loaded onto warhorses.
He also assigned many experienced old hands to handle the horses. The caravan rolled onward in mighty procession, an impressive sight to behold.
Zhang Dashan and the men of the joint defense force all donned armor and mounted warhorses, carrying themselves with no small measure of martial bearing.
Ning Chuan also had Zhang Dashan send several riders to patrol back and forth around the front, rear, left, and right sides of the caravan, giving it the air of a marching army.
In high spirits, Ning Chuan got down from the carriage and walked alongside the caravan members, chatting with them.
He took the opportunity to learn about the local customs and admire the rivers and mountains of this alternate Great Ming.
Zhang Dashan and Shopkeeper Li stayed at his side without taking a single step away, accompanying him with utmost respect.
"Shopkeeper Li, what other bandit forces are there on the road from here to the county seat?" Ning Chuan asked.
"Reporting to Lord Ning, there is only Second Dragon Mountain. Their two bosses have already been killed by you, my lord. There should surely be no more trouble on this journey!"
Ning Chuan pondered.
"It won't be that simple. Straw Bag Strategist escaped, so he definitely won't give up. He will surely stir up trouble again. Who knows what dirty trick he will use next?"
"Besides, I don't know the roads, and I have Big Dog and Xiao Hua with me. Leaving the caravan would be highly inconvenient."
He then asked Shopkeeper Li, "Do you have a map to the county seat?"
Shopkeeper Li hurriedly replied, "As it happens, I have one."
Shopkeeper Li found the map, and Ning Chuan began studying it carefully.
According to the map, most of the road to the county seat was flat and open, but one location alone put Ning Chuan on guard.
After examining it closely, Ning Chuan pointed to a place near Second Dragon Mountain on the map and asked:
"Shopkeeper Li, why is this place called Eagle Sorrow Gorge?"
"Lord Ning, Eagle Sorrow Gorge is the throat and vital passage to Qingshan County. The cliffs on both sides are sheer and steep; even a goshawk can scarcely cross it. That is why it is called Eagle Sorrow Gorge."
"The bandits of Second Dragon Mountain have long held this place in their grip. Any caravan passing through would have every last feather plucked, like geese flying overhead."
Hearing this, Ning Chuan immediately understood. Straw Bag Strategist would certainly set an ambush in Eagle Sorrow Gorge.
Thinking of Straw Bag Strategist, the corners of his mouth rose.
"Straw Bag Strategist, what a fine fellow, rushing to deliver Attribute Points right into my hands?"
"Where could one find such a good person? I'm almost reluctant to kill him. Heh heh..."
As Ning Chuan thought of this, he could not help letting out a pig-like snort of laughter.
Another two days passed, and the caravan arrived before Eagle Sorrow Gorge.
"Stop the caravan! Eagle Sorrow Gorge is only a few miles ahead!" Zhang Dashan shouted.
They still found a small hill in an open area to make camp, set out chevaux-de-frise, dug many pit traps, and the caravan settled in like this.
Standing in the camp, Ning Chuan looked toward Eagle Sorrow Gorge. The gorge was deep and shadowy, its end invisible from outside.
The cliffs on both sides of the gorge were precipitous, while the mountains stood tall and the forests thick. The terrain was indeed extremely dangerous.
If the caravan entered the gorge below and someone rolled massive boulders down from above, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Meanwhile, within Eagle Sorrow Gorge,
A group of people had gathered together. Concealed by the forest, they hid halfway up the mountain and watched the camp.
At their head stood a middle-aged scholar, none other than the Straw Bag Strategist from the County Yamen.
The rest were all experts dispatched by bandit forces within Qingshan County.
There were not many people this time. The focus was on excellence rather than numbers, and the lineup that had arrived was terrifying.
Of Qingshan County's eight major bandit forces, aside from Second Dragon Mountain and Three Tiger Mountain,
The other six had each sent their Second Boss, Seventh Rank Great Martial Master experts, each accompanied by ten peak Eighth Rank followers.
Looking at the experts before him, all treating him with utmost respect, Straw Bag Strategist felt full of triumph. The corners of his mouth slowly curled upward as he lightly waved his folding fan.
"Ning Chuan, you dared offend this Strategist. This is absolutely the last foolish thing you will ever do in your life!"
Before you continue